Caught on Camera: A New Island in the South China Sea

Wide image of a reef in the Spatly Islands claimed by both the Philippines and Vietnam.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs

If small islands in the South China Sea weren’t already causing enough headaches, China appears to have gone and created a new one.

Photographs released Thursday by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs purport to show land reclamation work at Johnson South Reef, near the disputed Spratly Islands, claimed by both the Philippines – which refers to it as Mabini Reef – and China, where it’s known as Chigua Reef.

A picture taken in February 2013 shows Mabini Reef in the Spatly Islands with a small Chinese-built radar station.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs

The images show that on Feb. 28, 2013, the reef, which protrudes just slightly above the sea water, supported only a small, pre-existing Chinese structure, which serves as a radar station and pier for small ships.

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Fast-forward to March 11 of this year, and the same structure can be seen perched at the edge of a newly reclaimed island of sand.

A photo taken on March 11 shows the Mabini Reef, an area near the disputed Spratly Islands, which appears to be the site of a land reclamation project.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hua Chunying acknowledged on Wednesday that China was undertaking construction work at the reef, but said that this was normal activity in an area “that comes under Chinese sovereignty.” She declined to say what China was building on the reef.

The Philippines has already lodged a formal complaint with Beijing over the reclamation work, arguing that it broke a promise made in a 2002 declaration between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations not to build in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

China maintains that Johnson South Reef is undisputed Chinese territory, and not therefore covered by the 2002 declaration. The Philippines and Vietnam, which both claim the reef, beg to differ.

Now that Johnson South Reef looks to have been remade as Johnson South Island, those claims could become even more contested.

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